Purpose

To consolidate, disseminate, and gather information concerning the 710 expansion into our San Rafael neighborhood and into our surrounding neighborhoods. If you have an item that you would like posted on this blog, please e-mail the item to Peggy Drouet at pdrouet@earthlink.net

Monday, October 21, 2013

Metro locks in more revenue

Good article on the impact of gate latching on the Red/Purple Lines.
The upshot: revenues from fares on the subway increased in September by
40 percent over last May before the gates were latched. If that pattern
holds — key word ‘if’ — Metro could see a gain of $6 million in revenues
annually from the subway. Of course, revenues are not the same as
profit.
Excerpt:

Fare evaders are now unable to freely enter the system
and, for the most part, have moved on to other modes of travel, Sutton
said, giving paying customers a better ride by improving their security
and safety—and by opening up a little more elbow room.

Even with the gates latched, some committed scofflaws will always
find ways to game the system, Sutton said. About 19,000 people entered
the subway without paying in September, using a variety of tricks or
blatantly jumping the gates. Metro is in the process of tweaking the new
system to make fare evasion more difficult, and the Sheriff’s
Department is issuing citations to catch those who squeeze through.

Nonetheless, in most places the system is working well. During one
morning rush hour this week, transit patrons streamed through the gates
at the North Hollywood station, tapping in succession as they rushed to
catch the next train. At ticket vending machines, fare purchases were
made swiftly, with no long lines forming.

Overall, I think this is a positive for the agency. Metro is hardly
alone among agencies battling fare evasion; it’s good to see progress
here is being made.